High pressure gas producers



Feb. 11, 1958 GRUBER 2,823,103

HIGH PRESSURE GAS PRODUCERS Filed April 2, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 6 7 54 Page] I 79 12 E 77 4/ I i? 53 25 j/ 2 Feb. 11, 1958 GRUBER- 2,823,103

HIGH PRESSURE GAS PRODUCERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 2. 1952 Feb. 11, 1958 GRUBER HIGH PRESSURE GAS PRODUCERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Ap ril 2, 1952 I 4 4 1 :Wkp vfpxlcri .9: 1

United States Patent HIGH PRESSURE GAS PRODUCERS Herbert Gruber, Essen, Germany, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Koppers Company, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application April 2, 1952, Serial No. 280,108

2 Claims. (CI. 48-63) This invention relates to a gas producer the gasification shaft of which is formed of vertical pipes traversed by a coolant and to which shaft the gasification medium is delivered at high pressure.

Nowadays the gasification shaft of a gas producer is always formed of metal in order to prevent the fuel caking on to the brickwork. The shaft casing, in the known kinds of gas producers consists either of a water-cooled double shaft or jacketed casing or of adjacently disposed vertical pipes traversed by a coolant and unprotected from surface contact with fuel in the gasification zone as shown in Koppers 2,179,638.

' In order to withstand the high pressures in the inner reaction chamber of the shaft, in the case of gas producers with gasification media introduced at high pressure, the gasification shaft must have a correspondingly large wall thickness. With the employment of riveted sheet metal casings for the shaft the wall thickness of the shaft is limited. The production of forged casings to constitute the shaft is not only very costly but at the present time can only be produced with great difiiculty.

If the gasification shaft is formed of cooling pipes arranged vertically side by side, it is capable of withstanding a high pressure, by reason of the higher resistance moment. In this case, however, there is the danger that the ends of the cooling pipes are difiicult to keep tight. In the case of welding of the ends of the cooling pipes these may easily crack under the expansion due to heating.

Attempts have been made to avoid these difiiculties, in the case of gas producers in which the gasification media are supplied at high pressure, by making the gasification shaft with double walls, the inner shaft cas ing or wall consisting of a material which withstands very high temperatures but which does not need to withstand r'necahnical stresses, whilst the outer shaft casing or wall consists of a pressure-tight housing. The purpose of this construction is, by means of a pipe system arranged in the free space between the two casings, to heat the gasification media to be introduced into the gasification shaft. Moreover, the pressure of the medium between the two casings or walls, for effecting the heating up of the gasification media, is kept at a value corresponding to the pressure existing in the gasification shaft. In this way it is possible to keep the inner shaft casing or wall practically free from mechanical stresses and to give it only a very small wall thickness.

In the known gas producers of this kind regulating means must, however, be provided in order to keep the pressure between the inner and, outer gasification shaft casings thesame as that of the reaction chamber inside the shaft. Ifthis regulating device is not provided then, in the case of large fluctuations of pressure, the pressure in the reaction chamber may become so large that the thin inner shaft casing or wall is in some cases damaged. Such a condition, if the'annular chamber formed by the 2,823,103 Patented Feb. 11, 1958 two shaft casings is filled with cooling fluid, may lead to explosions.

The invention aims at retaining the gasification shaft in the usual gas producers, formed by pipes traversed by a cooling liquid, and utilising the comparatively high resistance moment formed by the vertical tubes in gas producers with a high pressure in the reaction chamber.

The invention consists in arranging and dimensioning the vertical pipes so that they are in the position to withstand the pressure existing in the reaction chamber and to carry out the sealing of the reaction chamber by then forming this seal by an inner shaft casing or wall which also rests against the pipes and needs to have but a small wall thickness that only corresponds to the heat stresses.

The vertical cooling pipes are, moreover, in accordance with the invention held together by straps. With a correspondingly large resistance moment of the cooling pipes it is sufiicient to arrange tension rings or straps at the ends of the cooling pipes. By the arrangement of several such straps throughout the height of the cooling pipes the resistance moment of the latter may be made correspondingly less.

According to the invention the strap consist of wedge shaped rings which are keyed with correspondingly con structed counter rings composed of ring segments. In this manner there is formed a rigid shaft structure against which the inner casing of smaller wall thickness is pressed with a good heat-conducting relationship.

Such a construction of gas producers according to the invention has the advantage that it is possible with simple and cheap means to withstand the highest internal pressure existing in the reaction chamber without it being necessary to manufacture the reaction chamber of expensive fabricated vessels. Moreover the same pipes can be used for reaction chambers of any desired size of cross-section.

The invention moreover consists in that the ends of the vertical cooling pipes are provided with obliquely extending adjacently disposed side surfaces. In this way the pipes are secured in their concentric position forming the cylindrical shaft.

A further purpose of the invention is to form the closely adjacent ends of the cooling pipes of insertion pieces to which are connected the inflow and outflow conduits of the cooling liquid. These insert pieces are moreover provided, in accordance with the invention, with screw bolts for the connection of the top and the bottom of the reaction chamber.

The top and the base of the reaction chamber according to the invention are domed and provided with refractory brickwork. These domed bases and tops, in comparison to fabricated shaft casings, may be readily fabricated.

The thin wall of the inner shaft casing enables the casing to be, on the one hand, flanged at its ends over the vertical cooling pipes, whilst, on the other hand, the flange-like rim also can be used as a packing medium or gasket between the shaft and the base of the producer as well as between the shaft and the cover of the producer.

In order to ensure a tight seal between the shaft, on the one hand, and the cover and the base, on the. other hand, in cases where the vertical pipes are not exactly the same height, the invention further provides for the arrangement of a metallic packing ring between the shaft and the base as well as between the shaft and the cover.

Instead of this packing ring an anchor ring may be provided, according to the invention, at the "ends of the vertical pipes, the flange of the base and the. cover 3 of the reaction chamber being pressed so as to form a gas-tight seal by means of tension braces which draw both flanges together.

In order to provide a tight fit of the inner shaft casing against the vertical pipes at all points the invention finally provides for compensating for any free space which may exist between the inner shaft casing and the vertical cooling pipes, particularly at the abutment points of the pipes, by means of lining strips.

The invention is also applicable to other apparatus with a reaction chamber at high pressure.

The drawings illustrate preferred forms of construction according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows in vertical section a gas producer constructed according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a part vertical section through the upper part of a gas producer, on a larger scale.

Fig. 3 shows a horizontal section on the line III-lll of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 a similar view on the line IV- IV of Fig. 2, both on a larger scale.

Fig. 5 shows, .finally, a vertical section of the upper part of the gas producer in another form of construction.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, the gas producer consists of a vertical gasification shaft 1, a base 2 forming the lower closure and a cover 3 forming the upper closure. 7 The base 2 is traversed by a hollow shaft 4 which is connected at the top with a water-cooled stirring arm 5. The stirring arm 5 sweeps over a grate 6 resting on the base of the reaction chamber 1.

The cover 3 of the reaction chamber 1 has an opening 7 which is closable by a cone closure 8, and a gas outlet branch 34 is provided in the cover 3.

The gasification media are delivered to the reaction chamber 1 at high pressure through the gaps in the grate 6 to a point in the base 2 not shown in the drawing. Through the base opening 9 the ash forced through the gaps in the grate is withdrawn by means of pressuretight withdrawal devices not shown in the drawing.

As' can be seen from Figures 1 and 4 the gasification shaft consists of an inner casing 10 about which are arranged the adjacently abutting vertical pipes 11 which form the rigid shaft framework. Fig. 4 shows cooling pipes 11 of rectangular cross-section. It is also possible to employ pipes with a round or other suitable cross section.

The pipes 11 are held together by tensioning rings 12 which are provided with a sloping inner surface and have a diameter of a size such that wedge rings 13 can be driven between the tension rings 12 and the vertical pipes 11. By means of these wedge rings the pipes are brought tightly against the inner shaft casing 10. In order to produce this fitting of the pipes against the inner shaft casing at least one tensioning ring 12 with a wedge ring 13 is required at the upper and lower ends. By means of the arrangement of further tensioning rings with corresponding wedge rings 13, intermediate the upper and lower rings 12, it is possible to employ cooling pipes 11 with a correspondingly reduced resistance moment, and thus a smaller wall thickness. The vertical pipes 11 and the tensioning mechanism 12, 13, therefore withstand the high pressure existing in the reaction chamber, so that the inner shaft casing 10 needs only to have a small wall thickness sufficient to withstand the heat stresses.

The tensioning rings 12 can be connected together by spacer pipes or the like.

In order to produce good conduction of heat from the inner shaft casing 10 to the pipes 11, traversed by a cooling. liquid, when using pipes whose sides directed towards the inside of the shaft are not arcuate concentrically with casing 10, the free spaces thus formed are sealed, 'as shown in Fig. 4, essentially at the abutment points by lining strips 15 which can be welded 4 onto the pipes 11. This applies in particular to pipes of round cross section.

Into the ends of the cooling pipes 11 there are provided upper and lower insertion pieces 16, 17 which are preferably welded to the pipes. The insertion pieces 16, 17 have passages 18, 19 for the admission and withdrawal of the cooling liquid. in addition screw bolts 20, 21 are secured fast with the insertion pieces 16, 17, said bolts extending through the flanges 22, 23 of the base 2 and the cover 3 of the reaction chamber. The base and the cover are pressed into sealing contact against the insertion pieces by means of the corresponding nuts on bolts 20, 21, and the employment of packing media.

As can be seen from Fig. 2, the upper and lower insertion pieces 16, 17 provided at the opposite ends of the pipes 11 are recessed at their inner surface and outer ends and are provided with a packing ring or strip 24. By means of these metallic packing rings 24 differences in length between the pipes or their insertion pieces are equalised. The packing strips 24 preferably have groove shaped recesses 25. In the region of the packing rings or strips 24 the inner shaft casing 10 is formed as a rim 26 so that a flange-like edge or rim 26 rests against the packing strips 24 and is compressed thereon by the flanges of the base 2 and the cover 3 by means of the screws 20.

As can be seen from Fig. 5, the connection. between the shaft 1 and the base 2, as well as the shaft 1 and the cover 3, can, also be effected in other ways. For this purpose the insertion pieces 16, 17 are provided with pins 27 which engage in the anchor rings 28. About these anchor rings the inner shaft casing 10 is flanged like flange'rim 26. Against the flange forming the packing, the flanges 22, 23 in front of the cover and base are pressed by tensioning braces 29. The braces 29 extend through the flanges 22, 23 of the base .and thecover. About the flange 22, 23 there is mounted a thin sheet metal casing 30 which is lined with a heat insulating layer 31, in order to keep the tensioning braces uniformly warm and guard against variations in length resulting from fluctuations in temperature.

The insertion pieces 16, 17 are so constructed that their side surfaces abut each other, as can be seen from Fig. 3. Preferably the surfaces thereof directed towards the reaction chamber are made arcuate so that the inner shaft casing fits accurately against these surfaces. Base and cover are provided with a refractory brickwork lining 33.

The construction of the reaction shaft is carried out so that only after completion of the shaft framework formed by the vertical pipes 11 and the tensioning means 12, 13 is the inner shaft casing 19 introduced with the vertical abutment points not connected and, after pressing against the pipes 11 and welding at the vertical abutment points, is the casing 10 flanged at the top and bottom.

I claim:

1. A high pressure gas producer comprising, a gastfication shaft formed of metal to prevent the fuel caking thereon, having an inner metal casing wall which seals the gasification chamber and an outer surrounding shaft wall in abutting relation with all outer surface parts of the inner wall and constituted of vertical cooling pipes of greater wall thickness than'the thickness of the inner wall said vertical pipes being interconnected with each other in side by side annularly abutting relation to withstand the highest internal pressure that may be encountered in the contemplated operation of the inner gasification chamber, said inner casing wall being of a material which withstands very high internal temperatures but of a thickness suflicient to withstand only to the heating stresses to which it will be subjected in use, and said inner casing forming the inner sealing face in 5 surface contact with the inner gasification chamber throughout the entire height of said outer wall of vertical pipes and said inner casing being supported in radially abutting relation on all of its outer circumferential surfaces by the inner side of the outer wall to resist said high internal pressure.

2. A high pressure gas producer comprising, an outer reaction chamber wall comprising an annular series of vertical tubes for through flow of cooling medium, said pipes being in side by side annularly abutting relation and of a wall thickness to withstand the pressure encountered in the reaction chamber; tension rings of conical cross section surrounding the annular series of pipes with wedges interposed between the rings and the pipes; a separate header block for each of the upper and lower ends of each pipe with ducts for individual admission and withdrawal of cooling liquid to and from each pipe; an inner metal lining sealing the reaction chamber off from said outer wall, said metal lining being disposed in radially abutting relation at all of its outer surfaces with the tubes of the outer wall and being of a material which withstands the very high temperature in said reaction chamber and of a wall thickness sufiicient to withstand only the heating stresses to which it will be subjected in use, and said inner lining being flanged over the header blocks at the upper and lower ends of the pipes of the outer wall; a removable cover and a removable base for the opposite ends of the outer wall of annular pipes, said cover and base being constituted of domed elements each comprising an inner lining of refractory brickwork, an outer lining of metal, and a seating ring for seating engagement on the flanges of the inner lining; and bolts connecting said seating rings with the outer wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 824,337 Buzzell June 26, 1906 837,026 Armstrong Nov. 27, 1906 997,962 Cambridge July 18, 1911 1,123,162 Ayer Dec. 29, 1914 1,598,062 Dienner et al. Aug. 31, 1926 1,897,950 Battin et a1. Feb. 14, 1933 2,179,638 Koppers Nov. 14, 1939 2,202,245 Cramp May 28, 1940 2,268,558 Bailey Ian. 6, 1942 2,365,194 Hudson et al. Dec. 19, 1944 2,548,485 Lubbock l... Apr. 10, 1951 2,618,247 Mercier et al Nov. 18, 1952 

1. A HIGH PRESSURE GAS PRODUCER COMPRISING, A GASIFICATION SHAFT FORMED OF METAL TO PREVENT THE FUEL CAKING THEREON, HAVING AN INNER METAL CASING WALL WHICH SEALS THE GASIFICATION CHAMBER AND AN OUTER SURROUNDING SHAFT, WALL IN ABUTTING RELATION WITH ALL OUTER SURFACE PARTS OF THE INNER WALL AND CONSTITUTED OF VERTICAL COOLING PIPES OF GREATER WALL THICKNESS THAN THE THICKNESS OF THE INNER WALL SAID VERTICAL PIPES BEING INTERCONNECTED WITH EACH OTHER IN SIDE BY SIDE ANNULARLY ABUTTING RELATION TO WITHSTAND THE HIGHEST INTERNAL PRESSURE THAT MAY BE ENCOUNTERED IN THE CONTEMPLATED OPERATION OF THE INNER GASIFICATION CHAMBER, SAID INNER CASING WALL BEING OF A MATERIAL WHICH WITHSTANDS VERY HIGH INTERNAL TEMPERATURES BUT OF A THICKNESS SUFFICIENT TO WITHSTAND ONLY TO THE HEATING STRESSES TO WHICH IT WILL BE SUBJECTED IN USE, AND SAID INNER CASING FORMING THE INNER GASIFICATION CHAMBER SURFACE CONTACT WITH THE INNER GASIFICATION CHAMBER THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HEIGHT OF SAID OUTER WALL OF VERTICAL PIPES AND SAID INNER CASING BEING SUPPORTED IN RADIALLY ABUTTING RELATION ON ALL OF ITS OUTER CIRCUMFERENTIAL SURFACES BY THE INNER SIDE OF THE OUTER WALL TO RESIST SAID HIGH INTERNAL PRESSURE. 